Do you remember, last November, I asked you what were your hardest domestic challenges? Well, you answered! A number of you mentioned meal planning. So, I thought I would share with you some of the things that I do, to make meal planning a little more manageable.
However, here is my disclaimer, I don't have a grip on this area, and like many of you, I'm still searching for an easier way to handle the meal time question of, "what's for dinner?"
Here are a couple of things that have worked for me:
1. I start by taking an inventory of the food that I already have available. What can I use up? It is a nice surprise to find the frozen mashed potatoes, or cut up and grilled chicken!
2. I look at the food advertisements for the week. If you don't get the paper, check out your local grocery stores ad on line. Does anything on sale go with the groceries in my pantry?
3. Look at my schedule for the week. This is one of the most important keys to meal planning. I look for two things: When do I have time to cook? AND do I have any time crunches that will make meal time or preparation difficult? For instance, every Wednesday from 4:00 - 5:30 I cart my girls to and from gymnastics. It would be very easy to pull through the drive thru at McDonald's if I hadn't already planned dinner. Most of these evenings I plan for leftovers, a casserole that my husband can put in the oven, or a crock pot meal.
4. Speaking of crock pots - use them! Currently, I'm looking outside, to a white landscape and a temperature of 23 degrees! Yes, I live in Michigan! This time of year is perfect for using your crock pot (even though I use it all year long), winter lends itself to stews, roasts, etc. We are having a pork, sweet potato and black bean stew for dinner tonight. It is great having dinner ready first thing in the morning!
5. Plan for leftovers! Thankfully my family enjoys them. I like making large quantities of food that can either be eaten later in the week, or frozen. I mentioned our frozen mashed potatoes. I purchased a 10 pound bag of potatoes when they were on sale. I made a huge batch of mashed potatoes that I could freeze into smaller containers for later use.
6. Use resources!! The web is full of recipe sites, blogs with meal planning and money saving strategies! Here are some of my favorite resources:
http://allrecipes.com/ I think this is my favorite site to search for recipes. Be sure to checkout the comments from those who have used the recipes.
http://www.savingaddiction.com/ This site is local for those in the Grand Rapids area. These women have done all the hard work for us. They have checked out the grocery advertisements, coupons and kept track of all the deals. The best thing about this site is it is free! For those who aren't local, I'm sure you will be able to get similar deals in your location.
http://e-mealz.com/ This is a new site for me! I just heard about this meal planning, recipe giving, and grocery listing site! For a minimal $5 a month they will tell you want to make and purchase each week! For those of you who have used e-meals, I would love to know your findings with this source!
I know many people who are in cooking groups, do "once a month cooking", swap food with friends, etc. What have you found that works for you and your family?
1 comments:
at home with the kids all day, I have found that I can link the tools I use with meal planning. ex. on pancake day, i wipe down the two rectangular skillets I use for lunchtime grilled cheese later. I find there is not as much mess when I clean off my tool, then use for the next meal.
Last night, I discovered the joy of the boiled red potatoes. I set out an easy meal with mashed red potatoes, but saved aside a few that had been boiled in case someone didn't want mashed.
The potatoes did not get eaten til this am when they got sliced down and fried, served with breakfast...bon apetit!
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